Cairn Tools

Build An Adventure Site
Choose A Theme
 Pick a theme for the area. A specific mythology you find inspiring, something from
history, etc.
 Name (should reflect or theme). There are some great names here.
 Come up with an adventure premise (for example, an amazing location with a treasure to
hunt).
 Decide on a ruling faction, with traits & motive.
 Add some kind of counter balance (another faction, some kind of nefarious enemy, etc).
 Keep these concepts in mind at all times: Dangers, Stakes, Motives, Urgency. The more
you can weave in, the better.
Spark Tables
Spark Tables are very handy tools for quickly creating a setting. They are typically made of 40
words divided into two columns. For an example Spark Table see here. With some light editing,
it can result in phrases like:
 Digesting Claws
 White Eyes
 Distorted Tongues
 Predatory Awakening
 Grimalkin Fungi
 Nourishing Deep
 Paranoia Underbrush
 Mouth-less Cemetery
 Withering Hue
 Subterranean Ripple
 Transmutation Sparrows
 Moonlight Trees
 Mildew Gloom
 Smoldering Shade
Create Spark Tables

To create a Spark Table, you’ll want to find a find a book or website close to your adventure’s
overall theme (e.g. a PDF with related content). You can pull words from it by simply picking a
random page and writing down whatever meets your eye, or you can import it into a web-based
tool. You can also import public domain books on relevant subjects. WordCounter.net can create
lists of non-common keywords from a website. You can then copy and paste those words into a
spreadsheet.
Alternatively, take a look at TerriblyBeautiful by Colin Kloeker. Basically, you join the Discord
server (see Patreon link - it’s free) and then run commands in the “bibliomancers-workshop”
channel (see pinned).
When you’ve finished:
 Clean up the words. Sort by d20 in two columns.

 You’ll want to generate at least 10 interesting phrases for inspiration.
 You can of course simply write down 40 words that sound good together.
 Images can also serve as sparks.
Draw A Map
 If you can draw, great! Otherwise, find a map-making tool that works for you. Examples
are draw.io, Hex Kit, Owlbear Rodeo, Wonderdraft, etc.
 Draw at least four lines of any shape, each from a different color. Each line should cross
another at least once. These lines represent roads or paths.
 Generate at least 3 Points of Interest: take in consideration the theme(s) and factions. Put
these wherever the lines cross.
 Generate regional/hex features for each POI using tables and placing results in those
POIs where it makes most sense.
 Place additional (especially hidden) dangers, encounters or NPC’s in some of the POI.
 Add some travel/route complications, taking in consideration any POIs along the way.
Create Encounters
 Encounter table (either 1d6 or 2d6), with at least one result tied to the party or its
members.
 Details on any treasure or relics (Who wants it? Where is it now? Why wasn’t it
ransacked before?). Include maps.
 Describe rooms for a dungeon (one sentence describing obstacles, hazards, creatures or
minor treasure).
You do not need to do this for ever single POI, only those that interest you.
Create Treasure:
 Look on the map and think of who would want treasure, and what kind.
 Look on the map and think of where that treasure could be now.
 Add 2-3 steps leading up to the location of the treasure, but don’t be too obvious.
 Add some sort of “dungeon” in the place where the treasure resides.
 Stock “rooms” of a dungeon (additional treasure goes here)
 Maze Rats has incredible treasure and “loot the body” tables. You can find an automated
version in the Adventuresmith app.
Converting Monsters
There is no perfect system for converting from other systems.
Below are some tips that might help with the process!
The Basics
Review the instructions in the SRD. A couple of things to keep in mind:
 OSE (or B/X) has really great stat blocks that can be easily truncated for quick
conversion. See this page and this PDF for more.
 Dungeon World has some great monster “moves” that translate to Critical Damage quite
nicely, so looking for an equivalent creature in that system can really help! See this
example here.
 Sometimes a direct stat to stat translation isn’t an option. That’s OK! There is a way!
Health, Armor & Abilities

 Hit Protection is not health. It’s the creature’s ability to avoid danger, whether through
toughness, speed, or skill. If the PCs will have a tough time landing a blow that actually
causes damage, the creature has high HP. A good rule of thumb is to give the creature +1
HP for every HD, on top of a minimum 3 HP (the average person). I usually think
of HD as equivalent to a d6, which has a mean of 3.5. Always start with a
creature’s HP first, then do their STR.
 Armor is generally easy to map; phrases like “as leather” and “as plate” are really
helpful. Generally ignore THAC0 and use descending AC (7 = Leather, 5 = Chainmail, 3
= Plate mail). If only ascending AC is given you can use (12 = Leather, 14 = Chainmail,
16 = Plate mail). Whichever system you’re converting from, the Armor values range
from 1-3.
 Strength is both health and physical power. It also tracks constitution & resistance to
poisons. Look at the creature’s HD and HP (even if you’ve already done so for Hit
Protection). STR is the ability of a creature to survive a direct hit, not its ability to avoid
danger! If a creature is difficult to kill but not because they are good avoiding injury, give
them more STR (not more HP). A good rule of thumb is to compare them to the average
person (10 STR) and go up or down from there.
 Dexterity is probably the easiest of the bunch. Start with 10 as a base and if the creature
is particularly quick (sometimes called speed or SP), agile or nimble-fingered make it go
up. If it is slow to respond, bulky, or clumsy, lower the number. See Saving
Throws below for more tricks!
 Willpower is tricky. It rarely comes up but when it does, it’s nice to have. High WIL is
strong personality, spirit or presence. Morale (ML) can be a good guidepost
for Willpower as well. Morale typically ranges between 2-12; some games use a “Morale
Check” is used to determine if a monster flees (in Cairn a WIL save is used instead). The
referee rolls 2d6; if the result is higher than the monster’s ML score, they flee.
The following table offers a decent guide on converting ML to WIL.
ML 4 8 10 12
WIL 6 12 15 18
Combat
 Attack damage is pretty straightforward coming from games like OSE (or B / X); you
can usually just copy them as-is. Double-check with the weapons table if unsure.
 Multiple attacks (e.g. 2 x claw, 1 x sting) typically convert to Blast and/or the “two
weapons” rule (e.g. d6+d6 is roll 2d6, keep highest).
 When in doubt, think about how much serious damage the creature is supposed to do.
Remember that instead of raising attack damage a step, think about making
it enhanced in certain situations or use the Blast and “two weapons” rule.
Abilities & Magic

 Sometimes the mechanics of the original system simply do not translate. That’s OK; try
to take what’s cool about the creature and write a “version” of their ability more
appropriate to Cairn.
 If the monster has an attack that asks the PCs to attempt to dodge or save against some
ability, consider making the ability an out-of-combat “trap” that the PCs can trigger.
Otherwise make it succeed automatically during combat. The Warden can always
telegraph the danger prior to combat to better prepare the PCs against the danger.
 Abilities can sometimes be made into weapons, and assign a damage die, making Critical
Damage reveal the damage. More often you should simply let the ability or
attack happen. Combat is dangerous, and it is up to the Warden to properly telegraph
danger before the fighting begins.
Magic
 Magical creatures can just “know” a bunch of spells. In this case, make their corpses
magical (and dangerous)!
 Spells are tricky; you can give magic-users Spellbooks but remember, they
might drop them when defeated.
 I like to make 1d4 dropped Spellbooks implode (Die of Fate), just to mix it up!
Saving Throws
 You can rely on saving throws to glean more information about a creature’s abilities,
specifically their ability to avoid death by physical trauma, magic, or poison. See
the OSE SRD for more details.
 Occasionally stat blocks will use a shorthand like (E1) or (F1) (Level
1 Elf or Fighter respectively). These are really helpful for quickly identifying at the
creature’s abilities.
 Consider adding descriptive tags such as “immune to toxic gas” or “good at dodging
bullets” based on the saving throws.
The following table should help determine which saving throws should result in an increase in
one of the relevant ability scores.
Death or Poison STR

Wands DEX
Paralysis or Petrification WIL or STR
Breath Attacks DEX or STR
Spells, Rods or Staves WIL
Stat Block Structure

There are many ways to do this, but try to be consistent! In Cairn I write it like this: Name X HP,
X Armor, X STR, X DEX, X WIL, Weapon (dX, qualities), special items
 Engaging descriptor of appearance or demeanor

 Quirk, tactic, or peculiarity making this NPC unique
 Special effect or critical damage consequence
Use The Fiction

Read the original stat block and surrounding commentary, then write a few sentences about the
creature. Then convert what you’ve written to the Cairn monster stat block.
Take for example this creature:
FOXWOMAN
Can take the form of a fox, a woman, or a 7’ tall fox-headed.
HD 5, Speed 120’, Armor 14, Morale 11, Attack: +4 d8hp (claw, bite or choke)
 Defense: Cannot be harmed by metal

 Special: Can transform into a fox or a maiden with one fox leg hidden (same stats) at will
Using the example above, I can see that she:
 Appears as a 7-foot tall with a human woman with the head of a fox.
 Looking at the stats, it seems like she doesn’t have too high HP, and she’s quite fast.
 Her ML is pretty high. She’s obviously quite willful.
 Agile and lithe.
 Attacks with deadly teeth and claws (choking her prey if possible).
 Transforms into a fox at will.
 Immune to metal weapons.
What can we learn from this?

 She’s fast, and probably savvy in a fight. Starting from 3 HP, then counting 1 HP per
additional HD is 8 HP.
 I don’t think foxes have protective hides, and she’s otherwise human beside her head. No
Armor.
 She is decently strong. Normal human is 10 and she’s bigger. 12 STR.
 I can imagine her hunting prey over the snowy tundra. She’s fast. 14 DEX.
 Her ML is high but not the max. And foxes are pretty cunning, right? She’ll stick it out in
a tough situation. 15 WIL.
 I’d go with bite (d6) for the teeth attack, and claws (d8+d8), the same as any two-handed
weapon.
In summary, that leaves us with the following opening stat block:

8 HP, 12 STR, 14 DEX, 15 WIL, teeth (d6), claws (d8+d8)
Now on to her abilities:

This is pretty straightforward. We simply read the fictional stat block we created earlier!
 We know what she looks like, and that she can transform into a fox at will.
 She cannot be harmed by metal; I’m taking this to mean she’s immune to metal weapons.
 She chokes her victims.
Easy, right? Now to make it useful:
 Immune to attacks from metal weapons.
 Critical damage: victim is choked unconscious, to be fed on soon after.
And that’s it! Behold, a converted Cairn monster:
FOXWOMAN
8 HP, 12 STR, 14 DEX, 15 WIL, teeth (d6), claws (d8+d8)
 Immune to attacks from metal weapons.
 Critical damage: victim is choked unconscious, to be fed on soon after.

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Build An Adventure Site

Create Spark Tables

When you’ve finished:

 Clean up the words. Sort by d20 in two columns.

Health, Armor & Abilities

Abilities & Magic

Death or Poison STR

Stat Block Structure

 Engaging descriptor of appearance or demeanor

Use The Fiction

Take for example this creature:

 Defense: Cannot be harmed by metal

Using the example above, I can see that she:

What can we learn from this?

In summary, that leaves us with the following opening stat block:

Now on to her abilities:

Easy, right? Now to make it useful:

And that’s it! Behold, a converted Cairn monster:

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